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Ronan Duncan
Ronan Duncan is an independent Tremere from England and childe of the infamous Cornelia Groth. Gifted with the innate understanding of Thaumaturgy, Ronan is more than prepared to prove his usefulness in the Sabbat by turning Clan Tremere's own advantage against them. Biography Once a mage of a Hermatic Order, he was embraced 250 years ago by Cornelia Groth. Cornelia Groth did not introduce Ronan to the Tremere elders and subsequently avoided the binding ritual to his clan. During his time with Cornelia he showed his vast capability for Thaumaturgy and the rituals he assisted her with due to his experience from his mortal life. However, Cornelia Groth's treachery was discovered by Clan Tremere and was hunted down and given her Final Death. By this time Cornelia had embraced an untold number of Kindred, causing a massive concern for the clan as they scoured the globes searching for Groth's rogue bloodline. Some were caught and brought before the elders to face their judgement, but many such as Ronan escaped their judgement. Ronan arrived in America during its birth and kept to independent Kindred society, avoiding the ire of Clan Tremere. It was during his time here that he first me the Gangrel Bricc and the two formed a relatively stable friendship, or whatever term you could coin to describe a good relationship between Kindred. Blood Brothers Settling in the city of Olympia during the 90s, Ronan kept to himself, making sure once again to stay under the radar until he came into contact with the MC called the Blood Brothers. Having established his small chantry in an abandoned warehouse with the gargoyle Bartholomew as its guardian, he realized he was in close proximity to their domain. It was here that Ronan showed his loyalty to their cause, as they were a considerable power in the city. He used his influence and connections within the mortal government to ensure that their criminal operations went smoothly without interruption from local law enforcement. Ronan's involvement with the MC was a loose alliance of mutual benefit, they kept his chantry and Bartholemew safe while he gave his services when needed. While he assisted the MC in their affairs, Ronan also had been investigating Cornelia Groth's movements during her stay in the new world and discovered her involvement with a mage group called the Hermatic Order of the Golden Dawn. He travelled to their estate outside the city and infiltrated their grounds, trying to gain more information. It was here that he embraced his childe, Daniel R. Scott. Daniel was an alchemist, creating the reagents needed for the rituals the order performed and so adapting to Thaumaturgy proved to be an easy task for him. After learning of the order's plans, Ronan infiltrated the estate once more with Daniel at his side but it proved to be a fruitless endeavor once the news of the Grandmaster's appearance at the estate. Tracking Cornelia Groth's movements would be put on hold for the moment and returned back to his Chantry in Olympia. New Beginnings On the way back to Olympia, Ronan and Daniel were attacked by a pair of bikers from the Anarch MC lead by Frank C. Griffin. The attackers did not seriously harm the pair of independent Tremere (Though Daniel got his cheek blown out by a bullet and freaked out like a little bitch but let's be real you be an undead monstrosity for about a month and get a bullet to rip a part of your face and try and act cool my dude), but did enough to warn Ronan of the rival power coming to reclaim Olympia from the Blood Brothers. It was during the Blood Brother's gunrunning operations that Ronan met with Frank and orchestrated for the Anarchs to move in and reclaim the city of Olympia as theirs. Lucas, the leader of the Blood Brothers, was arrested along with the rest of the MC thanks to Ronan's influence within the local government. Frank gathered the Kindred society of the city together and brought Lucas forth in chains, executing him for all to see as his first act as the ruler of Olympia. Venture to Vancouver Ronan, now on his own again, met with a Revanent called Vyachislav. This Revanent served the powerful Tzimisce Martina Von Costentz, who had ordered Vyachislav to bring Ronan to her so that he would either join the Sabbat or be her prisoner, or death, who knows the motives of ancient fucking vampires. The two quickly became good friends in their current situation. Ronan continued to investigate his now long dead sire's movements in the new world further and discovered her involvement in the founding of the city of Vancouver. Vancouver had always been a neutral city for vampires, neither Camarilla nor Sabbat controlled it as the Prince Siegfried wished to keep it that way. The city had an agreement with the werewolf tribes of the area, only vampires travelling on their own would be permitted within the city limits and those travelling in groups would run into the blockades set up by the tribes. Ronan, Vyachislav and Bartholomew traveled to the city together and broke through the blockade but not without Bartholomew being grievously injured. Taking refuge in a substation, Ronan and Vyachislav hid their wounded gargoyle companion and went about their business in the city. Ronan managed to supply Bartholomew with enough mortal blood to be able to return home so that he could resume his investigation on Cornelia, discovering during his search that another independent Tremere was here in the city. Vyachislav went before Prince Siegfried, using his domitor's name and feigning ignorance of the attack on the blockade. Siegfried tasked the Revanent with investigating who had been attacking the blockades as it was discovered that two other attacks had happened before the group arrived in Vancouver. Ronan and Vyachislav, after their initial tasks were complete, met back up with one another and went about finding more fitting lodgings for the two. Exploring the night life of the city and organizing for new clothes and transport, the two made their way to the River Rock Casino Hotel. Ronan seduced the receptionist and they were able to stay in the presidential suite for the duration of their stay in Vancouver. During the downtime of his investigation, with the help of the local Nosferatu, Ronan would enthrall the receptionist whom he began to find a liking for (Rolled a nat 10 for hotness fam so I mean wouldn't you). After finding the location of this independent Tremere, named Victoria, Ronan would visit her at her dorm in the university. They spoke briefly, with Ronan trying to convince her that standing together they would have a better chance at surviving against the Camarilla. Unfortunately Victora refused to accompany Ronan and anything to do with the various childe of Cornelia Groth, but she did tell him of another of their kind that became the Prince of Calgary whom was locked in a war with the Sabbat. With this, Ronan returned back to the hotel to find Vyachislav waiting for him. Vyachislav had been directed by Siegfried to the ruined estate of his former rival who had planned a coup against his position, in case there were any clues towards the attacks there. Ronan accompanied Vyachislav to the estate knowing Ronan's expertise in the occult would come in handy. There, they discovered in the lounge the markings of a ritual that used both Kindred and Garou elements in it. This brought concern to the pair, but did not dissuade them from their investigation. In the bathroom, they found the body of a werewolf still in Garou form in the bathtub. After a brief autopsy, they discovered a strange black goo-like substance coated its organs and signs of a struggle with a Kindred. With this, the continued further into estate and stumbled upon a hidden cellar that contained old, potent vitae of ancient Kindred. However, down there they were attacked by a strange creature. It was a werewolf, but it was decaying and rotten. This strange undead creature pursued them as they fled the estate but did not catch them as they drove away. Vyachislav immediately informed his domitor and Prince Siegfried of what they discovered. Unavoidable Consequences Ronan found himself in a precarious situation as he revealed himself to be involved in the recent attack on the Garou blockade established around Vancouver when he stood before Siegfried. Vyachislav explained that he wouldn't have found a good amount of the evidence they brought before the prince had Ronan not been there to help. This did help the situation, but unfortunately Ronan had already complicated things with Bartholomew killing two Garou at the blockade. The two were brought into the meeting between the vampire powers of Vancouver and the elders of the Garou tribes, with Vyachislav being the representative for the Sabbat and his domitor Martina Von Costentz. Despite the considerable effort and aid presented before the Garou of Vancouver, judgement was rendered on Ronan. His actions had broken an already fragile arrangement between vampire and werewolf, he was to be executed by the Garou. As judgement was being rendered, however, the meeting was interrupted as the doors to the room were opened. A Nosferatu from Olympia and friend of Ronan, Gary, stood before the proceedings. He approached the Camarilla representative and informed him of who Ronan actually was, the childe of the infamous Cornelia Groth. The Camarilla representative convinced those in the meeting to allow his people to take Ronan into custody so that he may be brought back to Clan Tremere's stronghold in Europe and face his punishment there, at the hands of those that already had wanted him dead for so long. An agreement was made and Ronan was escorted out. With his head hung in defeat and already accepting his demise was inevitable, Ronan did not notice the devious smile on his friend Vyachislav. The Sabbat were not to let this happen. The Breakout Confined to a room by his Camarilla jailers, Ronan was given one last phone call. He rung Vyachislav immediately and pleaded for the safety of those close to him before he staged a breakout. Unfortunately, Vyachislav told him he couldn't do anything to save his Tremere companion but he would ensure the safety of Daniel his childe, Cecelia his thrall and Bartholemew his gargoyle guardian. Finally, Ronan relented that his time had come sat in his room in silence. He quietly reflected on his 'unlife,' with so much left unfinished that left him with regret. The door opened to the room and in stepped a Tremere justicar, his jailer who would escort him to Europe. Before Ronan could say anything, he was staked to ensure a smooth transition on their journey. While in torpor, the Camarilla force that traveled from Vancouver was assaulted. The boat they had purchased for the journey was ambushed on the Strait of Georgia by Sabbat forces consisting of Tzimisce Cainites in an aquatic Vozhd and a boat that contained thirty Revanents, a gang of Caitiff lead by Gugger and a pair of gargoyles. Vyachislav had enlisted the aid of his domitor and Bartholomew with his childe Thaddius to free Ronan from the Camarilla. A brutal engagement began, both sides reaped a bloody toll on each other. Gugger and his Caitiff descended upon the front of the ship and exchanged blows with archons, Vyachislav and his Revanent family unleashed wave upon wave of bullets on anything in their sights. Bartholomew tore through Tremere where he landed, his stony form a blur as he continued to fly about the ship in the darkness. Eventually, the Sabbat forces drove the Camarilla below decks where they found Bartholomew searching frantically for Ronan. A brief scuffle ensued but the archons managed to stake the gargoyle before he could find him. While they stood guard over the gargoyle in torpor, an archon phoned in for reinforcements from the kine coast guards from both America and Canada. With a small exchange of words between both forces, Gugger and Thaddius rushed into the fray to begin the melee anew. Thaddius was set aflame by Tremere thaumaturgy before he freed his sire from torpor to return into the combat. During the combat, an archon decided that if the Camarilla couldn't have Ronan the Sabbat certainly would be denied also. He swiftly impaled Ronan and sent him into further into Torpor, though before he could deliver the final blow he himself was beaten into Torpor. The Camarilla were defeated, the ship was evacuated and the remaining Sabbat forces took captive the archons and justicer beaten into torpor. The battle was not done, however, with the pursuit of the Coast Guards from both nations. Despite their injuries, the gargoyles ran ambushed the American Coast Guard boats with explosives. Thaddius, already heavily injured from the battle with the Tremere, sacrificed himself by dive bombing into a patrol boat strapped with explosives. Bartholomew managed to finish off the remainder of their forces and flew to return to the boat. The boat, however, had a brief skirmish with the Canadian Coast Guard. I say brief, because the Revanent family unleashed a deafening volley of gunfire that utterly annihilated the two boats deployed to intercept them. With a victorious cry in their native tongue, the boat returned home to Seattle and was given its name after the brave sacrifice of Thaddeus.